Maverick Nica Sunrise v2 Bluetooth Headset Review

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed)
Mar 6th 2011 at 4:01PM

Holy crap most Bluetooth headsets are awful to be seen in public with. Seriously, if you see someone wearing a Bluetooth headset who isn't on the phone, please smack them (for legal reasons I need to remind you not to batter or assault anyone!). Unfortunately, Bluetooth headsets are a necessity for many people. Either you need to drive while talking, or you just don't have enough free hands (I have four of them). So when you must use a headset, it should be one that offers a pain-free experience and doesn't look like you have a techno-parasite hanging off your ear.

This is the Nica Sunrise v2 Bluetooth headset by Maverick Lifestyle. The headset basically looks like part of a set of audio headphones, with the rest missing - and that is pretty good from a "don't punch me in the side of the head because of what I am wearing" perspective. While the set doesn't have a boom rod for the mic - most such booms are so small on other Bluetooth headsets that they might as well not be there. I found that people could hear me speaking pretty well with the Nica Sunrise on, but don't try to use it outside where it is too loud.

The Nica Sunrise has a round shape and a small ear strap to go over your ear so that it does not fall off. The box comes with one for the right ear, and one for the left ear. People usually prefer one or the other - but if you switch a lot, you'll need to get a small screwdriver to change them (a little one is actually included in the box). It is comfortable to wear for a long time, and there is nothing actually stuck in your ear. Overall I like the design of the headset but the buttons are small. Unless you get a good feeling for where they are, it is easy to miss the volume up and down buttons, the on and off switch, and the call answer switch. In the future these might be made better for hands in a hurry. In terms of talk time, Maverick claims four hours - which seems reasonable.

These are version 2.1 Bluetooth profile headsets, and they are also "multi-point," which means you can pair them with two phones. This is a big plus for me as I carry two phones. Charging them is one of the highlights. The box includes a small magnetic dock that is small enough to be portable. You can also get a desk dock charger, as well as a really well designed car dock charger. The desk dock is for when you want to be cool and have a nice base that won't get lost. This is good for people who will use it a lot while doing computer work and need their hands for e-mailing while they are only half paying attention to the call. The car charger use is self-explanatory, but has a neat function where the top of it opens up giving you a charging port when you aren't using the Nica Sunrise charger.

Design quality among the product range and accessories is good. They are sleek and done well. Price isn't too bad either being $79.95 for the Nica Sunrise Bluetooth headset, $19.00 for the desk dock charger, and $29.00 for the car dock charger. Pretty reasonable prices for the design and eas of use. While there are Bluetooth headsets out there with more features and some more ergonomic options, this is a slick design and a good system for most uses.

Learn more or get one here.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Thanks for Maverick for the review unit. Opinions are 100% independent.

Gallery: Maverick Nica Sunrise v2 Bluetooth Headset